Hier noch eine schöne Beschreibung des Albums:Recorded at Surrey Sound Studios, Leatherhead, Surrey, England – March to April, 1980The end of the 70’s was a difficult time for Eric as he had just reconciled with Patty Boyd and, by his own admission, was drinking heavily and becoming more withdrawn. He also found himself becoming more and more disenchanted and isolated from the American members of his band, Carl Radle, Dick Sims and Jamie Oldaker, and finally ended their 5 year association in June of 79 by firing the three by telegram.

For the next tour an all English band was put together featuring lone holdover on guitar Albert Lee supported by Chris Stainton (keyboards), Dave Markee (Bass), and Henry Spinetti (Drums). The band hit the road and, while they were a tight and technically proficient unit, they stayed true to the recorded versions of Clapton’s songs and offered little in the way of spontaneity and improvisation.

The band went into the Surrey Sound Studios to record their first album together with Eric adding talented Procol Harum keyboardist/ songwriter and old friend Gary Brooker to the band lineup in the hopes of beefing up the sound and sparking some creativity. With Eric happy to stay in the background the resultant collection of songs was deemed unacceptable by his record company RSO for being too laid back and not commercial enough and was more of a band album than an Eric Clapton effort with Brooker and Lee singing lead vocals on several songs.

The songs themselves are very laidback even by Clapton’s standards. The disc opens with an ordinary very short 33 second blues shuffle which is reprised by a similar 55 second blues instrumental at the end of the track list. While this is not a typical Clapton album several of the songs, such as “Game’s Up”, “Rita Mae”, “Something Special” , “Catch me if You Can”‘ have a very familiar Clapton signature sound from the era and would be at home on any of his 70’s solo efforts. There were several songs with nice Honky Tonk piano feel such as “Freedom” and ” Hold Me Lord”. But the biggest surprise was the songs which sounded like outtakes from an early Eagles album with that California country sound including background harmonies in some cases. This was especially evident on tracks like “There Ain’t No Money”, “I’d Love To Say I Love You” and “Evangelina” featuring Albert Lee on vocals. The highlight song is the “Procol Harem meets Clapton” flavored song “Home Lovin'” featuring Gary Brooker on vocals. It has a very unique sound with the merging of the two styles. Hard core Clapton fans will probably find the versions of “Rita Mae”, “Catch Me” and “Hold Me Lord” to be of special interest as they differ significantly in tempo and arrangement from the versions which ultimately appeared on the “Another Ticket” album.

While I can understand RSO’s reluctance to release this album, as it has too little standard EC on it, and it may have been a little too laid back for the mainstream market, this does not detract from the quality of the music. I think this would be the perfect album to listen to after a tough week at work with your feet kicked up while drinking your favorite cocktail(s) or for listening to on a lazy Sunday morning while reading the Sunday paper.

This Album is a great addition to anyone’s collection and is therefore highly recommended.